


Ocean Tales 3

by Jacie_popslash (Jacie)



Series: Popslash: The Ocean Tales Series [3]
Category: NSYNC, Popslash
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fantasy, M/M, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-17
Updated: 2007-06-17
Packaged: 2018-02-07 17:29:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1907643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacie/pseuds/Jacie_popslash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Ocean Tales 1 & Ocean Tales 2</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ocean Tales 3

**Author's Note:**

> Posted to AO3 on 06 July 2014
> 
> Written for ravenbat

Still squatting near Chris’ capture, JC wrinkled his nose, informing his partner, “Your catch still smells horrible.”

Directly behind JC, Chris’ hands were placed on JC’s hips, his head still pressed against JC’s back. “Fine. I will bathe him while you prepare our dinner.”

“Have you brought back anything for dinner, my hunter? Or have you only captured this pet?”

“We still have plenty of stew left to eat, do we not?”

Sighing heavily, JC admitted, “Yes, we do. I just do not care to eat the same meal day after day.”

Pressing his lips against JC’s warm skin, Chris kissed his lover. “Then I should hunt less and for smaller game.”

“Or we could send off the leftovers to those less fortunate.”

“Or I could keep my pet.”

“Does it eat stew?”

“We shall soon find out!”

Remaining silent, Lance watched the pair, listening to their words. He didn’t move until JC began turning away from him and he saw a flutter of wings. Surprised, he pushed himself back against the wall, his eyes wide. Chris dropped to his hands and knees, crawling toward Lance slowly.

“Move slowly, JC. I think you’ve frightened him.”

“Me? I’m the least scary thing in the whole forest!”

“He has wings,” Lance whispered.

“It speaks!” JC called out loudly, eyes opened wide in surprise. Backing up quickly, he stumbled, landing in a heap on the floor.

“Shhh,” Chris snapped at JC. Turning his attention to Lance, he softened his voice. “We will not harm you,” he promised.

“You already did! You kidnaped me and my arm hurts. I want to go home. Take me back. Now!”

“Take it easy. First we need to get you washed up and fed. Alright?”

“Why can’t I go home? Why did you bring me here?”

“Chris, where did you get him from? You’ve been off traveling again haven’t you? You know it’s illegal to keep bringing things back from other places without permission.”

Chris waved off JC’s concerns. “I wanted JC to see a green eyed man. That’s all. I saw you in the ocean and told JC, but he didn’t believe me. I had to bring you here to prove that you existed.”

“Ironically, my friend Joey told me he saw you at the beach and I didn’t believe that you existed,” Lance mused, his thoughts drifting back to his friend.

“Oh my,” exclaimed JC. “His mate is mourning for him. I can feel it. You must take him back, Chris. You cannot separate mates.”

“He’s not my mate. He’s my friend.”

“He has a strong connection with this other one,” insisted JC. “You cannot break it. He must go back.”

“Let me clean him up and we’ll feed him, then he can go back.” Turning back to Lance, Chris offered his hand. “Come.”

Lance’s expression was full of doubt, but he eventually reached out and took Chris’ hand, then flinched when Chris pulled him to his feet. “My other arm. It hurts so much.”

“I will look to it in the bath,” promised Chris as he began leading Lance down a passageway. 

Every step jarred Lance’s sore arm more and it soon became so painful that he let go of Chris’ hand so he could support his injured arm. Chris slowed his pace to accommodate his pet. Thinking that the darkness of the path was hindering Lance’s pace, Chris gently placed an arm around Lance’s shoulder, directing him down the passageway.

“I am so familiar with my home, I forget the darkness of the passages is strange to others.”

“I thought, when you were bringing me here, that this was a tree.”

“It is. It’s a giant Gilblinka tree. They make the most wondrous homes, if you’re lucky enough to find one at just the right maturity that is not yet occupied. This one belonged to my grandparents. My grandmother moved into town after my grandfather passed.”

Before long they arrived in a room that had a hole far above, letting in a small bit of light. It was enough for Chris to find a lantern and light it. Lance blinked his eyes as they adjusted to the new surroundings. 

“We must get you into the bath.” 

“I’ll take off my wetsuit.”

“Wetsuit?”

“This!” Lance pointed out. 

“It is not your skin?”

“No, it is not my skin. Ouch! My arm hurts too much. I think it may be broken. You will have to help me remove it.” 

“Your arm?” Chris asked curiously.

“My wetsuit! The arm stays. I’m rather attached to it.”

Standing close to Lance, Chris followed Lance’s instructions, unzipping the wetsuit and carefully peeling it from Lance’s body, being especially gentle pulling it from Lance’s injured arm. Next, Chris pulled Lance’s trunks down and assisted him in stepping out of them and into the sunken tub.

“This is awesome,” Lance announced as Chris settled him into the warm, bubbly water. “How do you get plumbing into a tree?”

“It is a natural hot spring that feeds the roots of the tree. We’ve lined it with decorative tiles that JC has made. This is the right size for a bath, and we have smaller ones where we clean our clothing, dishes, weapons and another from which we draw our drinking water.”

“It’s very relaxing.”

“How does your arm feel?” asked Chris, as he slid into the tub beside Lance.

“It still hurts.”

Gently taking the arm, Chris poked and prodded, noting the discomfort he was causing, then finally announced, “I believe the bone is cracked. It will need to heal.”

“Cracked as in broken?”

“Cracked as in cracked. Probably when you slid of Brioshk’s back.”

“Brioshk?”

“My horse. You have cuts and bruises too, but minor. Your fish skin protects you well.”

“It’s a wetsuit. It’s keeps me warm in the ocean. I don’t wear it on land.”

Chris nodded as he bathed Lance’s skin with a clear liquid that smelled of mint and lilac.

“Your friend has wings, but you do not. How is that possible? Where are we?”

“JC has wings, that is true. I do not, because we are of different species. He is of mixed breeding and there are those on this planet who think the mixed breeds have no place in the world. We live in the forest because we are both in danger, but he is in more danger than I am.”

“Danger?”

“He is an orphan of unknown breeding. Some people don’t like the unknown. Some will not like you. There are some that would hurt or kill him only because he is different. I think his wings are beautiful, as are your eyes, but they are uncommon here and some are terrified of the unknown.”

“And you are in danger because of him?”

“I am in danger for loving and protecting him, but moreso because of my job.”

“A hunter?”

“I hunt for our meals, that is true, but I work for one of the Universities. I am a Traveler, that is my species. I can find doors to other worlds and I can go through them and bring back all sorts of things. I have a license to bring back plant life, and am one of the few licenced to bring back small creatures. I have been bringing back fish and plants from your ocean most recently.”

“But I am not a small creature.”

A mischievous grin played across Chris’ lips. “No, it is likely that you are not. I truly intended only to bring you back for JC to see you. I had not thought beyond that.”

“But now you will take me back, right?”

“When you are healed, I will take you back.”

Turning quickly, Lance caused water to splash from the tub to the rocky floor surrounding it. “When I am healed?”

“You are not of my species, so traveling is more difficult for you. You cannot travel with a cracked bone, because it may be further damaged by traveling. The doors between worlds, once I enter them, it is like a vortex that disassembles that which I am, then reassembles it on the other side. Since I am a Traveler, my body is equipt to deal with that. Your body, however, is not. If you travel with a cracked bone, you may reassemble with an arm that will never heal. The traveling may cause your body to believe that is how it should be.”

“Or it could reassemble fully healed,” Lance said hopefully.

“No. Not unless it is healed first. I am sorry. It may fail to reassemble your body at all. Traveling with such an injury may be your death.”

“But that is not fair!” insisted Lance.

“It is neither fair nor unfair. It is merely that which is. It is the truth of the matter. There is nothing you or I can do to change that which is. We can only study it and resign ourselves to it, with or without fully understanding it.”

“How long until I am healed?” Lance asked quietly.

Using a thick sponge, Chris softly dripped warm water across Lance’s skin, studying the light reflecting off the water. “I would imagine it will heal as quickly here as in your own world. We can only set it and wait until it mends. There is no way I know of to speed that process.”

“Weeks,” sighed Lance, settling his back against Chris’ chest.

“We will take excellent care of you,” Chris promised, as he settled Lance’s head against his shoulder, allowing Lance to go limp and fully relax in the warm water.

***

Growing tired of waiting for the others to return, JC decided to find them and tell them the meal had been ready long ago. Deftly making his way down the darkened passage, he arrived quickly at the bathing area. Pausing at the entrance, he watched the pair in the water: Lance apparently sound asleep, leaning on Chris and Chris, still awake, supporting Lance’s body.

“I was wondering what was keeping you,” whispered JC, nearing the bathing pool.

“My pet seemed exhausted. I felt it best to let him sleep.”

Brushing Lance’s hair back, JC caressed the man’s skin. “He is despondent. He misses the other.”

“The bone in his arm has cracked. He struggled and fell from Brioshk’s back. He cannot travel until he is fully healed.”

“He will not heal in this mind set. You must bring the other here to heal him.”

“JC!”

“Christopher Alan!”

“You, my love, are a whole lot of trouble.”

Kissing Chris’ forehead, JC responded cheerily, “But you do love me. And you know I am right. I will prepare the plates while you wake the pet. Bring him quickly so you can be on your way before dark.”

~END~  
June 17, 2007  
© 2007 by Jacie


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